The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume, Part 81

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 81

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His descendants in America are quite numerous, and are represented in most of the states of the Union, embracing some of the foremost names in various learned professions, as well as law-givers, scientists, scholars, merchants, agriculturists and mariners; it has also furnished a large number of deacons as well as clergymen to the church.

The Newcombs were largely represented in the revolutionary war, in the war of 1812, and in the Florida, Black Hawk and Mexican wars, and also in the late war of the rebellion ; to the latter strug- gle we have ascertained that it sent no less than two hundred and twenty-five members to fight for the Union.

The youth and early manhood of the subject of this sketch were spent upon his father's farm in his favorite pursuit, agriculture. In the war of 1812 he served under General Eddy during the invasion of Plattsburgh, September, 1814. In 1822, at the age of twenty-eight, he located in Essex county, New York, with a view of cultivating a large tract of land which he owned there, situated in what is now the town of Newcomb, so named after him, incor- porated in 1828, and of which he was the first su- pervisor.

On the 13th of July, 1825, he was married to Miss Patience Viele, eldest daughter of Abraham L. and Hannah (Douglass) Viele, of Pittstown, where she was born on the 5th of February, 1804, and sister to Hon. Philip Viele, elsewhere sketched in this vol- ume.

Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb removed to Essex county, then a wild region of the Adirondacks, where they resided some four or five years, when they returned to Pittstown. Mr. New- comb's ambition was to become an extensive agricul- turist, and he therefore decided to explore the great west. Leaving his home in January, 1837, he trav- eled alone on horseback, with the snow in many places two feet deep, through western New York,

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upper Canada, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, cross- ing the Mississippi river into Iowa (then Wisconsin Territory), and deciding to settle on the west side of the " Father of Waters." In September of the same year Mr. and Mrs. Newcomb removed to their west- ern home, accompanied by Mrs. Newcomb's parents and other members of the family. They located in a beautiful part of the country on the Mississippi river, about fifteen miles below Rock Island, and took possession of a log cabin. At that time there were but two counties in Iowa (being then about twenty-five miles wide)-Dubuque and Des Moines. Here they resided several years, enduring all the la- bor, fatigue and privations incident to frontier life in the west. Here Mr. Newcomb found ample scope for the gratification of his ambition, and became the owner of large tracts of land in lowa. He operated one farm in Iowa containing a field of twelve hundred acres, all inclosed by a substantial fence, and which in one year produced the enormous yield of thirty thousand bushels of grain. He was one of the first Iowa farmers who used agricultural machinery in the state. The profits and proceeds of his estate, under his judicious management and untiring indus- try, in due time accumulated a large fortune.

At an early day, seeing that the present site of the city of Davenport was surpassingly beautiful, · even in a state of nature, he decided to make it his future home; accordingly in 1842 he removed to that locality, and in after years erected a splendid residence on spacious grounds, now well known as the Newcomb mansion. In this lovely home, which commands a charming view of the Mississippi river and Rock Island, he spent the remainder of his days, dispensing the same generous hospitality that he had done in his log cabin in the country. He died of apoplexy, on the 22d of December, 1870, leaving no issue, beloved and respected by all who knew him.

Mr. Newcomb was a man of little or no personal pretensions, unusually retiring, remarkable for sound judgment and close observation, upright, unques- tionable and correct in all his dealings, and so gen- erous to the needy and kind to the poor that he was often called "the poor man's friend." The golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you," was the law of his life, and no man could with truth charge him with injustice or oppression in any business transactions, and all trusts committed to him were scrupulously performed. The sternness of his character was fully equaled by his goodness, temperance and integrity.

Though a member of no church, his sympathies were with the Old School Presbyterians, and he en- tertained a profound respect for religion, which was manifested by an habitual attendance at the house of worship. He lived and died in the assurance of a blessed immortality, often saying his hope of heaven was unclouded, and that death to him had no ter- rors, and the silent grave no gloom. No words more fully represented his feelings than the sublime oracle of Job, so familiar to christian ears, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." He repeated this sentence as his own experience a short time before he died. His character may be thus briefly summed up : to a sound judgment and uprightness of heart and life he united great energy and untiring industry in all business affairs.

His remains rest in the family grounds in Oak Dale cemetery, Davenport.

Mrs. Newcomb, who survives her husband, is truly a remarkable woman, of more than ordinary intelli- gence. Possessed of a firm and earnest christian character and a high order of executive ability, she exercises a deservedly great influence in the com- munity where she dwells. She enters heartily into all philanthropic enterprises, and is liberal in the use of her large fortune. During the late war she was active in the care of our wounded soldiers, and dur- ing the entire period of the war she was the very efficient president of the Soldiers' Aid Society of Davenport, and also one of the incorporators of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, located in that city. She is an earnest and consistent worker in the Presbyterian church, and aids largely in maintaining its interests.

She some time since erected the "Newcomb Me- morial Chapel " at Davenport, in memory of her late husband, and quite recently, with a wise liberality, donated to the Davenport Academy of National Science a lot, whereon a fine building is now being constructed. The impetus thus given to this worthy enterprise has placed the institution in advance of all similar ones in the west. This good deed was soon followed by a like donation to the Literary Association in the neighboring city of Moline by a lady, and still another to the Library Association of Davenport.

Mrs. Newcomb's father was born at "The Val- ley," now Valley Falls, in the town of Pittstown, Rensselaer county, New York, on the 8th of Octo- ber, 1772, and died at his residence in Muscatine county, Iowa, on the 17th of May, 1840. His father, Lodewecus Viele, settled "The Valley " more than

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one hundred years ago. Her mother, Hannah, only daughter of Major Samuel Douglass, was born in the town of Pittstown, New York, on the 21st of Oc- tober, 1781, and died at her son-in-law's, Dr. G. W.

Fitch, in the city of Muscatine, Iowa, on the 16th of March, 1846, and is buried with her husband in Oak Dale cemetery, Davenport, in the same lot with their son-in-law, Daniel Tobias Newcomb.

C. C. McINTIRE,

OSCEOLA.

T HE subject of this biography was born on the 26th of September, 1846, at Rising Sun, Indi- ana. His father, the Rev. Daniel McIntire, was a Methodist Episcopal clergyman. In the formula of this church the clergyman is allowed to hold the pastorate of one church only two years. This cus- tom was observed by his father until he was located at New Albany, where he remained for six consec- utive years. His father was a man of sterling in- tegrity and of great usefulness in the church.

C. C. McIntire went to school until he was thir- teen, after which he was employed in a dry-goods store for two years. Evincing a predilection for books rather than commercial pursuits, his parents sent him to Asbury University at Greencastle, In- diana, where he remained for four years and grad- uated in 1868.

After graduating he returned to Rising Sun and taught school for several months, at the same time reading law in the office of Judge Downey. From this office he went to Washington, Indiana, and read law in the office of Judge Pierce until the following fall, after which he practiced law in the same place for several months; he then went to Sullivan, In- diana, and practiced there until the summer of 1871. Recognizing his superior talent, his townspeople nominated him as the republican candidate for dis- trict attorney for the eighteenth judicial district, but he, however, failed of an election.

In 1871 he came to Osceola and commenced the practice of law under the firm name of Ayres and

McIntire, and in July, 1875, on mutual separation, he succeeded Mr. Ayres. When this firm com- menced business they were without a client, and almost without a dollar, but in the four years they were together a prosperous business had been estab- lished, which has now reached to large proportions in the hands of Mr. McIntire, who has oftentimes more than he can possibly attend to, though, unlike metropolitan lawyers, he knows no specific hours for labor, but may be found at midnight in his office plodding away through the intricacies of some com- plex case. The erudition of his well stored mind, and his manly, straightforward manner of dealing with all his clients, have endeared him very much to the people of Clark county. A brilliant future is before him if he does not overwork himself. So persistently has he confined himself to sedentary labor that he now at thirty-one has the manner and style of a man nearer fifty than forty.

Mr. McIntire married in May, 1875, Miss Hattie Chickering, of Chariton, lowa, by whom he has one child, a daughter.

His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Clark, of Baltimore, Maryland. Both his parents are now residing at Lynn, his father being still in the active ministry.

He is in politics a republican, and in religious sentiments a confirmed Methodist.

He is an Odd-Fellow in fraternity, but by no means so in his manners, which are of the most transparent and genial character.

HAMLIN B. WILLIAMS,

GLENWOOD.

H AMLIN B. WILLIAMS, one of the leading lawyers of Mills county, was born on the 13th of September, 1840, at Hamilton county, Indi- ana. His father was the Rev. Sanford S. Williams, 57

who at an early age was taken from Kentucky to Indiana, where he remained the greater part of his life, and died when Hamlin was but eight months of age. His mother still survives.

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Hamlin received all the elements of a first-class English education, and in 1856 entered the Law- rence University at Appleton, Wisconsin, from which he graduated in 1862, and commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. T. R. Hudd; but in the breast of this quiet student of Blackstone burned the fires of patriotism. His country was in the throes of a gigantic civil war; the State of Wisconsin was calling for volunteers, and young Williams gallantly responded, and on the 15th of August, 1862, he en- listed in company D, 21st Wisconsin Infantry, and went almost immediately into active service. At the battle of Chaplin Hill, Perryville, Kentucky, on the Sth of October following, he was badly wounded in the chest, and was honorably discharged from the service on the 12th of December.

After sufficiently recovering to permit application to his books, he recommenced the study of the law, and in 1863 was elected justice of the peace. He removed in 1865 to Ripon, Wisconsin, where he en- gaged in mercantile pursuits till 1866; but the law had far more attraction for him than merchandise. He was admitted to the bar and again elected jus- tice of the peace, which position he held till April, 1869, when he removed to Glenwood and continued the practice of law. He has five times been elected city attorney of Glenwood.

He became an Odd-Fellow and a Mason in 1863, in both of which organizations he is still an active member.

He was brought up a strict Methodist, and his re- ligious tendencies take that direction, though not a member of any church organization.

On the 13th of July, 1864, he married Miss Kate M. Peabody, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and his marriage has been blessed with three boys and two girls, though he has been called upon to mourn the loss of one boy and one girl.

Mr. Williams is essentially the arbiter of his own good fortune. At the age of thirty-seven he finds himself on the high road to the very head of his profession. His office enjoys a very large business, · and he is almost constantly before the courts of his state and county. He has a fine presence, and is a keen observer of human nature. He is very earnest in all he undertakes, and husbands his resources of mind by strict temperance, both in eating and drink- ing. He is in the full vigor of healthy manhood, and seemingly has many years of usefulness before him. In politics, he is a pronounced republican.

We pen this sketch of Hamlin B. Williams with more than ordinary interest. Left fatherless when quite an infant, a fond mother's ever constant care brought him to active boyhood, and then gave him a good education. He has rewarded this paternal solicitude by vigorous and decisive action. The result of his hard study and persistent efforts is shown forth in the achievements he has gained, and may well inspire the youth of Iowa to renewed ex- ertions in emulating his bright example.

HON. HORACE S. WINSLOW,

NEWTON.

H J ORACE SPENCER WINSLOW, judge of the sixth judicial district, and for years a leading attorney of Jasper county, is a native of Rutland county, Vermont, dating his birth at Pitts- ford, on the 18th of July, 1837. His father was El- hanan Spencer Winslow, a descendant of the Massa- chusetts Winslows, the original stock coming over in the Mayflower. The mother of Horace S. was a Kingsley. The Winslows, for several generations back from Elhanan, were farmers, but he was anx- ious that his children should receive as good an education as he could give them, and this is proba- bly the reason why the attention of Horace was turned to professional life. He was educated in the common schools and seminaries of Vermont,

mainly at Brandon, and at the State and National Law School at Poughkeepsie, New York, and the Ohio State and Union Law School at Poland, Ma- honing county. At this last institution he graduated on the ist of July, 1856.

Immediately after being admitted to practice, Mr. Winslow opened an office in Newton, Jasper county, Iowa, and gradually built up a good practice. He is a very hard worker, and is always up to time, driv- ing his business rather than letting his business drive him. He has indomitable energy, and perceptive faculties of striking keenness. Perhaps no man at the Iowa bar obtains a clear insight into a case quicker than Mr. Winslow.

In 1862 he was elected by the republican party

Fratually Jours

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attorney of the sixth judicial district, composed of the counties of Jasper, Poweshiek, Marion, Mahaska, Keokuk, Washington and Jefferson, and served in that capacity for four years. In 1868 he was elected by the same party circuit judge of the second cir- cuit, sixth district, for four years, but resigned at the end of one year, and resumed practice. In 1874 he was elected judge of the sixth judicial district, and his term of office will not expire until the 31st of December, 1878.

Judge Winslow carries to the bench the same ex- cellent traits of mind and character seen at the bar. He is perfectly clear in stating a case, impartial in judgment, courteous and candid to both litigants and jury, and leaves the impression on the minds of all parties that he is not only master of the situation but a perfectly upright judge, and an honor to the Iowa bench.

Judge Winslow is a firm adherent to the republi- can party ; at one time was a member of the state central committee, and in 1872 was a delegate to the national convention which renominated Presi- dent Grant. He has held several minor positions, political and civil, and has always been very faithful and efficient in the discharge of his duties.

He has been a Freemason since 1858, and has re- cently held the position of grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of the state. In his religious views he is rather liberal, regarding the golden rule, untram- meled by sectarianism, as good enough to follow.

The wife of Judge Winslow was Miss Sarah E. Dunklee, of Pittsford, Vermont, daughter of Silo Dunklee, Esq .; married on the 7th of November, 1858. They have two children, Kate E., born on the 14th of March, 1860, and Jessie L., born on the 21st of March, 1862.

SAMUEL B. ZEIGLER,

WEST UNION.

T HERE is true beauty in the career of a self- reliant soul bent on success in a laudable direc- tion. The courageous steps of such a man embody a lesson worth treasuring in print. Such a pro- pelling power animated and guided the subject of this sketch through all his earlier years, and still abides with him.

Samuel B. Zeigler, early left an orphan, and purely self-taught, is a native of the Keystone State, and was born in Centre county, on the 6th of December, 1831. His father, Isaac Zeigler, was a country par- son of very limited means. His mother, Chestina Zeigler née Remp, died when the son was nine years old, when he was flung almost entirely on his own resources. His inheritance consisted of an active mind in a sound body, and a resolute heart. He never went to school for a day after he was twelve years of age, and very little after he was nine. He loved books, however, and at a very early age began to pick up knowledge during the leisure which he could command, often gleaning in the primary fields when lads of his years should be in bed. By great diligence and the strictest economy of time, entirely unaided, he fitted himself for a teacher. Beginning that vocation at sixteen, he taught summer and win- ter for four or five years, and read law the last two years by means of borrowed books.

Mr. Zeigler, who was a reader of the newspapers, about this time had his attention called to the open- ing fields for enterprise beyond the "Father of Waters," and at the age of twenty-three started for Iowa. At Warren, Illinois, he reached the end of the rail, and the bottom of his pocket. But he pushed on afoot to the Mississippi river opposite Du- buque, arriving there with one forlorn cent on his person. But although his exchequer was exhausted, his mental resources were not. Examining the thin contents of his wallet, his eye alighted on a razor which he traded off, squared his last account with the State of Illinois; reached Dubuque with a shil- ling in his pocket ; went to a German hotel and explained in the Teutonic tongue his situation ; was cheerfully accommodated for the night, and the next day walked to Delaware county. There he taught one or two seasons, reading law meanwhile ; remit- ted his indebtedness to the Teutonic innkeeper, and pushed on to West Union, reaching the Mecca of his hopes in the spring of 1856.

As soon as the first court met in the district, he was examined before Judge Murdock, admitted to the bar, and soon formed a partnership with Milo McGlathery, afterward judge of the tenth judicial district. Two years later the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Zeigler continued to practice alone, adding

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at the start real estate to the law business. He practiced steadily until 1866, when he started the West Union Bank, the first institution of the kind in the county. With the exception of one year, he continued at banking until the 2d of August, 1872, when the bank was merged in the Fayette County National Bank. Mr. Zeigler still has an interest in such institutions, being president of the Fayette County Savings Bank, and vice-president of the national bank just mentioned. Latterly he has had a collecting agency and land brokerage office, and is the most extensive operator in this line in the county. He owns and manages six fine farms, and has aided a great many people to secure farms for themselves. In all his land operations he has never wronged a man ; is a fair, straightforward dealer, very lenient to the embarrassed, and kind to the poor. In branching out he has invested in the Mahaska County Coal Company, and is, in fact, its heaviest stockholder, and one of its directors.

The one cent which Mr. Zeigler possessed when he first cast his eye across the Mississippi into Iowa, "the beautiful land," has multiplied until it has run far up into the millions.

Mr. Zeigler is a Mason and an Odd-Fellow, and in the former order is a member of Siloam Com- mandery No. 3, of Dubuque.

He is a firm republican, and has helped others into offices which he would not take himself. He has been mayor of West Union four years in succession, and was usually chosen without opposition.

On the 28th of December, 1859, he married Miss Laura Adams, of Northfield, Vermont, a lady of fine mental and musical accomplishments.

No citizen of West Union has done more for the place than Mr. Zeigler. For several years he was the sole school director, and at all times has been a hearty cooperator in all efforts to elevate the grade of public instruction. He has educated a younger brother at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadel- phia, and is supporting at the Iowa State University another brother, whom he purposes to send to Cam- bridge, Massachusetts, and thence to Heidelberg, Germany. Such acts require no comment.

Mr. Zeigler was a leader in bringing the railroad to West Union four years ago, and has probably paid more money for such enterprises than any other man in the county.

He is below the average height, compactly built- put together for work -and it would be difficult to find a match for him in dispatching business. A man of wonderful activity when at work, as soon as it is over he is chatty and cheerful ; at all times, off clerical duties, he is a radiant light in a social circle.

REV. JAMES KNOX,

CEDAR RAPIDS.

AMES KNOX was born on the 5th of June, 1807, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Joseph Knox, his father, was engaged in a large mercantile business in Carlisle. His mother's name was Hannah Doug- las. Her father, John Douglas, was a wholesale merchant in Dublin, Ireland, and came to America in 1796, with two daughters, Hannah and Isabella. His mother died when James was three years old ; she was an admirable woman, for many years superin- tendent of the Sunday school and forward in church work. His aunt remained unmarried, and died at Buchanan, Michigan, at the age of ninety.

James Knox graduated at Dickinson College, Car- lisle, in 1824, at the age of seventeen. In the same year (May 8, 1824,) he united with the Presbyte- rian church-Rev. George Duffield, pastor,-under whose fostering care he prepared for the ministry. He spent one year in Princeton Seminary, 1827-28,

but completed his studies at the Theological Semi- nary of Virginia, in the year 1828-29; he was li- censed to preach by the Presbytery of Carlisle. He was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church of New Castle, Delaware, on the 21st of November, 1832. In 1834 he resigned his charge. In 1833 or 1834 he went to Washington to aid a friend in the services of a protracted meeting; he was then the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of New Cas- tle, Delaware, and was in the strength of his youth ; very gentle in his manner, and devoted and gracious in his spirits. During the next year Mr. Knox was attacked with fever, which brought his life into great peril. His system received a severe shock, and it seemed for a long time that he would not be able to resume his labors in the pulpit. He was obliged to resign his charge and suspend all labor.

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From 1836 to April 1, 1839, he supplied the Sec- ond Congregational Church of Norwalk, Connecti- cut, after which he preached for some time at Bethel, Connecticut, in the old town of Danbury. He united, about 1843, with the Presbytery of Brooklyn, and shortly afterward was dismissed to the Presbytery of the District of Columbia, and became pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Washington city. He labored in that church in the midst of many discouragements. He was faithful, kind and perse- vering, making many friends, and highly esteemed by his ministerial brethren and the people.

A wider and more promising field now opened before him in the city of New York. He was called to the pastoral of the Tenth Presbyterian Church in New York city, and was installed pastor on the 18th of January, 1846. His ministry was blessed, but the prospects of the field were greatly changed by the organization of other churches. He resigned in 1852.

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The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume, Part 81

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 954

Author: American biographical publishing company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Chicago, New York, American biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 954